Vinicius Oliveira moves to featherweight, meets UFC divisional staple

Vinicius Oliveira is headed up a weight class – and a divisional staple is there to welcome him.

At UFC Fight Night 279, Oliveira (23-4 MMA, 4-1 UFC) will battle Giga Chikadze (15-6 MMA, 8-4 UFC) in a three-round featherweight bout at Meta APEX in Las Vegas.

Two people with knowledge of the matchup recently informed MMA Junkie of the booking but asked to remain anonymous as the promotion has yet to make an official announcement. News of the booking was first reported by Setanta Sport.

Oliveira, 30, captivated international audiences when he finally made it to the UFC in 2023 after 22 fights on the regional scene. He quickly rattled off wins over Bernardo Sopaj, Ricky Simon, Said Nurmagomedov, and Kyler Phillips. However, his momentum came to screeching halt in February when he was dominated and submitted by Mario Bautista. After the loss, Oliveira described the difficulties of making bantamweight and indicated featherweight was next for him.

Chikadze, 37, aims to snap a three-fight skid that includes losses to Arnold Allen, David Onama, and Kevin Vallejos. Known for his fan-friendly kickboxing style in the cage and humanitarian efforts outside of it, Chikadze has built up a respected reputation since his UFC debut in 2019. However, it's not impossible he could be fighting for his UFC roster spot.

The UFC Fight Night 279 lineup includes:

• Manel Kape vs. Kyoji Horiguchi
• Giga Chikadze vs. Vinicius Oliveira
• Karol Rosa vs. Luana Santos
• Hyder Amil vs. Christian Rodriguez
• Ion Cutelaba vs. Navajo Stirling
• Jhonata Diniz vs. Jose Luiz
• Kevin Borjas vs. Andre Lima
• Bia Mesquita vs. Melissa Mullins
• Allan Nascimento vs. Mitch Raposo
• Melsik Baghdasaryan vs. Murtazali Magomedov
• Michael Aswell vs. Gaston Bolanos

This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Vinicius Oliveira moves to featherweight, meets UFC divisional staple